Prince of Ruin

Chapter Four: Theodore

I had no idea what my father had planned when he'd informed me that evening after work that we had dinner plans. I had been unhappy when we ended up in front of the Selwyn home. But there was no way I could have prepared myself for his announcement.

Betrothed, not to Daphne as we all expected but to the chaos demon that was Coco Selwyn.

When it was announced- I was saved from having to look at her- by her shattering the goblet in her hand. She and Baz ran off to handle that problem, apparently, the Selwyn house elves knew what they were doing because the mess of wine, glass, and presumably blood vanished almost before the twins were even out of the room.

There were a million questions running through my mind- the biggest one of course being Why in the hell did he think this was anything resembling a good idea? Coco was not an upstanding pureblood woman. She would not bring honor, joy, and well-behaved children to our family.

Fuck- I was going to be expected to procreate with her.

However, despite all of that- I knew better than to openly question my father when other people were around. Instead, I picked up my fork, I had no urge to eat- especially considering the mess that just happened across from me I didn't know how far that had spread. I wasn't willing to risk it but I wasn't sure was else to do.

It wasn't an issue. My father said our goodbyes before the food came out and a moment later we were back at the house.

"Why?" It felt good to finally let the word be spoken. "Why would you stick me with that- psychopath? She is going to be a black mark on our family name." I insisted. "She came to our house and-"

"I'm aware of what she did," Rochester responded, he walked away from me, removing his robes, they vanished- off to be cleaned and put back into his closet. "Do not question my decisions."

It was on the tip of my tongue to scream and shout- I should be able to question his decisions when it's my life they will be affecting. That he is choosing my wife I should be privy to the reasoning behind it. I shouldn't be forced to marry a woman who would smother me in my sleep- but chances were that was the reason why he picked her- to get rid of me quickly and easily, without getting his hands dirty. I swallowed all my arguments down, I could feel the acid burning in my chest as he walked away from me, not even looking back to say goodnight.

I stormed up to my room- my appetite had died the moment he made his announcement, so I had no qualms about grabbing the bottle of whiskey where it had been left earlier- taking a drink right out of the bottle.

"Son of a bitch." I paced back and forth- trying to get my anger under control. Rage was the only emotion I struggled to keep contained, everything else was easy to hide, to keep to myself but the anger was just so strong and present and sharp it cut its way out of any cover I managed to put over it, slicing and raging until it's blade eventually dulled

It was no good, I knew it wasn't going to be a quick running rage, this was going to last. I slammed the bottle back down on the table and apparated out, going to the Malfoy home.

Malfoy Manor had once been a glorious stronghold. I remembered coming here for parties- for the balls and Galas. Narcissa Malfoy was a brilliant woman and one of her many talents included knowing how to throw a party. Last year however turned the home into a shell of what it once was. A depressing reminder of everything the once powerful family had lost.

I did nothing to announce my presence and yet by the time I got up to Draco's room- he was waiting for me, two glasses of scotch waiting. I didn't like scotch but at this point, I'd take anything, I picked up the glass and downed it in one go- regretting not bringing the whiskey bottle with me.